Starting Sept. 25, the U.S. Mint began selling its first American Eagle bullion coin struck in .9995 fine palladium to authorized purchasers. Images courtesy of U.S. Mint.

What may be mistaken on the obverse as a W Mint mark of the West Point Mint is actually the AW monogram of the designer of the Winged Liberty Head design, sculptor Adolph A. Weinman. The coins are struck at the Philadelphia Mint but, as traditional for U.S. Mint bullion coins, carry no Mint mark. Images courtesy of United States Mint.

The secondary market for 2017 American Eagle palladium bullion coins
heated up well before the U.S. Mint’s offering of the coins to its
authorized purchasers began at noon Eastern Time Sept. 25.

The authorized purchasers placed orders for 15,000 American Eagle
1-ounce palladium bullion coins, the nation’s first coin struck in the
precious metal.

As secondary market sales began, premiums being charged were $200 to
$325 above what the Mint was charging the authorized purchasers to buy
the coins. Premiums for the American Eagles were also well above
premiums for other palladium bullion products.

The spot price of palladium has climbed significantly during 2017.
The closing London PM spot price for palladium per troy ounce on Jan.
3 was $706; on Sept. 25, it was $917.

Even before sales of the American Eagle palladium bullion coins from
the Mint opened, one of the Mint’s authorized purchasers, APMEX, was already
advertising examples online of Professional Coin Grading Service
graded Mint State 70 First Strike coins at prices starting at $1,245
per coin, roughly $325 over the spot price.

Sellers on eBay recorded multiple completed presale transactions for
the coins, including one deal for $3,222.40 for three coins; another
transaction for $2,149.98 for two coins not graded by a grading
service; the sale for $1,093.89 of a single PCGS MS-69 coin with a
First Strike label; and the sale at $1,109 of a single coin in a
Numismatic Guaranty Corp. MS-69 Early Release slab.

Sellers on eBay also offered a number of active auctions of the
bullion coin with Buy It Now options ranging from the offer of a
single coin to offers featuring as many as 20 coins.

Authorized purchasers

Mint officials said these nine authorized purchasers expressed
interest in purchasing quantities of the American Eagle palladium
bullion coins, which were sold by allocation:

➤ A-Mark Precious Metals Inc.

➤ Dillon Gage Inc.

➤ American Precious Metals Exchange (APMEX)

➤ Fidelitrade Inc.

➤ CNT Inc.

➤ Manfra, Tordella & Brookes Inc. (MTB)

➤ Jack Hunt Coin Broker

➤ Scotia Mocatta

➤ Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB)

U.S. Mint officials declined to disclose how many of the 2017
American Eagle palladium bullion coins would be struck (all are being
struck at the Philadelphia Mint) and made available for acquisition by
the authorized purchasers. Officials said the Mint only reports sales
for the coins, not total mintage levels for the current year’s bullion programs.

The authorizing legislation, Public Law 119-94, empowers the
Treasury secretary to issue the American Eagle palladium bullion coin
in quantities deemed sufficient to meet demand.

The Mint does not sell its bullion coins to the public. Instead, it
sells the bullion coins through a network of authorized purchasers,
who buy the bullion coins from the Mint at prices based on the closing
London PM spot price of the respective precious metal per troy ounce
plus a premium. The authorized purchasers may then sell the coins to
the public, other dealers and investors at a markup.

The premium for the American Eagle palladium bullion coin is 6.25
percent of the closing spot price.

As mandated by the law, the obverse design of the palladium coin is
an adaptation of sculptor Adolph A. Weinman’s Winged Liberty Head
design employed on the dime beginning in 1916. The mandated reverse
design replicates Weinman’s eagle design from reverse of the American Institute of
Architects gold medal first awarded in 1907.

In developing the coin, the United States Mint was able to use the
original reverse plaster of the AIA gold medal.

The American Eagle .9995 fine palladium bullion coin, like all other
American Eagle bullion coins, does not bear a Mint mark.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.